Hide and Seek
by Maximillian Havisham
Summary: He gave up. It became too much to bear so he let it all go. She wouldn't let him run away that easily. Summary is a bit on the brisk side I know.


Chicago, not the most fitting place for one to settle themselves these days. The days are easy, but the nights are when the city shows its true colors. Gangs, organized crime, and even petty criminals all have their pick of victims during the twilight hours. Despite all of this, this is where Elijah Bradley, "Patriot", chose to lay his head. He deserved it, or so he thought. He failed as a leader, as a friend; and in the end it cost him everything he cared about. This is where he secluded himself. Far away from the constant struggle and problems of superheroing. It's what he thought the deserved.

Another night, another late shift that made him yearn for his warm bed. Listlessly walking up the stairs to the third floor of his apartment and down the hollow hall, Eli soon came upon and opened the door of his lonely one bedroom apartment.

"I'm home." His voice echoed into the empty space. He threw his bag on the ground and trudged to his bedroom to rest his exhausted bones before college beckoned his name in the morning. He walked to his bed. It was neatly made with nary a corner out of place, a habit hammered into him thoroughly by Grandma Faith.

Too tired to move the blanket, Eli flopped on top of it, burying his face into his cold pillow. For a reason that could only be described as coincidence he turned his head to the left. To his slow forming surprise he saw a note posted on the outside of his window. Curious, Eli rose from his bed and walked to the window. The writing on the paper was neat, much too neat for a male; although that wasn't outside the realm of possibility. He looked at the note closely, squinting as his enhanced eyes began to focus in the darkness.

**Roof. - KB**

"The hell?" Eli read the note again to make sure he wasn't imagining things. "KB? Who is KB? KB. KB. K…" Eli's eyes slowly widened. "No, it can't be." His eyes narrowed. "Somebody must be messing with me." He walked away from the note and back to bed. "There's no way…She couldn't have…Why would she…?" He tossed and turned for a few more seconds before finally rising out of bed again. "Ok. I'll bite." Before leaving his room he walked over to his closet and opened it. Moving the hanging clothes to side, Eli reached for the false compartment on the back wall. He unhooked it, revealing both his Patriot costume and his, or rather Captain America's, old shield. "I'm only checking this out." He said to himself. He sighed heavily and grabbed the shield before covering the wall back to how it was.

The shield was heavy, almost too heavy for him to carry on his own. This wasn't due to the metal the shield was comprised of, it was actually lighter than the shield that Captain America currently possessed. No, this shield was heavy with regret. Regret and failure. Every time Eli held it his mind fell back to those times, the times with his friends in the so called "Young Avengers". It reminded him of good times, but more often than not it reminded him of all his failure, his mistakes and bad choices that lead to the death of his friends. The choices that made him give up both the shield and the duty he was given.

He made his way to the roof, passing by the creaking doors and leaky pipes of his rundown building. He could have chosen a better place to live, but he thought this building was more than a suitable place for him. The landlady even gave him a reduced rent just for not being gang affiliated.

He opened the door to the roof, shield first just like his training taught him. He walked carefully, allowing his enhanced senses to feel out the area, if he was heading into an ambush he was more than ready to handle himself. He was nearing the edge of the building. No enemies or unfamiliar faces in sight. "I should have known she..."

"Took you long enough. I was getting bored."

Eli's eyes widened as he turned around. He lowered his shield and looked up at the figure standing on top of the entranceway. There stood a girl with porcelain white skin, her jet black hair flowing in the wind. A bow and arrow in her hands. There weren't many people who could sneak up on him, but she was certainly one of them. He couldn't help but smirk. "KB. Kate Bishop."

"Eli Bradley. Now that we got names out of the way can we sit down? My leg's getting tired."

The two walked to the edge of the building and sat there, their legs dangling over the side. They put their weapons behind themselves as they looked out at over the other rooftops of the city. If Eli was being honest, he was happy to see Kate. The two had a somewhat rocky relationship since they met in that hostage situation all those years ago. Not the most ideal place to meet a girl, but they managed to make it work. Mostly through bickering and hidden meanings. A brutal argument here, a stolen kiss there. It was a whirlwind they were caught up in every time their eyes met. It's good to see you. I missed you. How have you been? These were sentences that normal friends would say after not speaking for a while.

"What are you doing here, Kate?"

"Nice to see you too, Eli."

Unfortunately Elijah Bradley and Katherine Bishop were far from normal friends.

"What are you doing here?"

"You asked that already."

"I'll keep asking until I get an answer."

Kate sighed. "Are we really doing this now?"

"We don't have to if you just tell me why you're here."

"I need a reason to see a friend?"

"You do when that friend moves halfway across the country and dropped all contact with everybody he left. How did you find me anyway?"

"Well you didn't exactly cut off contact with everybody."

"Billy."

Kate nodded.

"He really doesn't know how to keep his mouth shut."

"Of course not. He's worried about you. We all are."

"Don't be. I'm fine."

"If you say so. So Chicago, huh?"

"Seemed like the best place to get away from everything."

"I can think of better. You ever been to Prague?"

"No."

"Good, it's overrated. Belize is much better."

"Kate…"

"So…you're really not coming back?"

Eli tightened his fists and looked down at the street below. He had stopped asking himself that question a long time ago, but it had been forever since someone else had asked him.

"Billy and Teddy put you up to this? Or was it Cap?"

"I put myself up to this. You can't keep running away, Eli."

He grabbed his shield and began walking back to the roof door. "I got class in a few hours. I'll see you whenever."

"Cassie's alive."

Eli stopped in his tracks, his eyes widening in disbelief. "How is…?"

"Doctor Doom. It happened during all that inversion craziness. Apparently Doom was caught up in it and used his short lived benevolence to bring Cassie back to life. Vision is back too."

Eli gave no reply.

"That's why you left, right? You felt responsible for their deaths?"

"I was responsible."

"You're the only one who thinks that."

"Well I shouldn't be!" Eli turned around, anger in his eyes as he stared at Kate's back. "I was the leader. It was my job to keep everyone safe and I messed up. I got Jonas and Cassie killed. I couldn't stop my friend from turning into a villain." It still stung him that Nate decided to become Kang.

Kate stood up and to the front of Eli, she grabbed his lowered head, tilting it up until their eyes met. "None of that was your fault."

"Yeah, it was. You just don't understand."

"Then help me here. I'm trying to understand. What's holding you back? You're good at what you do, Eli. You're great. Why are you still so afraid?"

Eli looked into Kate's ocean blue eyes. The same eyes he stared into many times. Whether it was in irritation, annoyance, anger, embarrassment, or happiness he always felt something when their eyes met. This time it was regret. He grabbed her hands, even underneath her gloves they felt warm. He slowly lowered them and walked past her. "Sorry."

Kate began to clench her teeth in frustration. "Dammit! Stop running!"

Eli turned around to face her, his anger rising as well. "I'm not running!"

"Then what do you call this? Looks like running to me."

"Why do you always have to start an argument?!"

"Because it's the only way I can get a straight answer out of you! You're always so angry, keeping everything bottled up until it explodes. What are you so angry about?!"

"I'm not angry! I told you, all of you! I'm done being a hero. I gave it up."

"If that's true then why do you still have that shield?"

Eli's eyes widened as he looked down at the shied in question. He honestly had no answer as to why he kept it. It just didn't feel right to toss it away, but he didn't know why it didn't feel right. Lost in his mind he didn't even notice Kate walking towards him. Soon they were face to face, their noses nearly touching as Kate looked fiercely into Eli's eyes.

"Throw it away." She said.

"What?"

"If you're really done with everything then throw the shield away. Toss it off this roof right now."

"Kate, you need to back up."

"Throw it away."

"I said back up."

"Or what? You're gonna hit me, tough guy? Super soldier or not that won't end well for you."

"Get out of my face!"

"Not until you tell me what you're angry at!"

"Kate, I'm gonna tell you one last time to-"

The blaring of a car alarm from below effectively ended the two's heated standoff. They looked over the building edge, seeing three hooded men trying to jimmy open a Chevy door with a crowbar. Kate grabbed her bow and readied herself for action. "'Get away', huh?" She looked back at Eli who refused to return. She gave him one last glace before firing a zip line into the nearby building.

She slid down, dropping on top of the car that was attempting to be stolen. She aimed her bow at the men. "I'm pretty sure you guys aren't with Lizard Lick Towing."

"Who the hell is this bitch?"

"Ain't no superheroes in the Chi."

"Forget that, get her."

They each pulled out guns, training them on Kate. Before they had time to shoot, Kate dashed off the car, firing an arrow at the thief in the middle. He screamed in pain as the arrow stuck into his hand, forcing him to drop his gun.

"Drop her!"

The other two began to shoot but Kate effortlessly dodged each shot. _Luckily there aren't any other people on the street._ She shot more arrows, disarming the other two criminals. She ran up to them uppercutting one with her bow before knocking the other out with her staves.

Eli watched from above, his eyes widened in amazement. "Damn." He then looked over to the alley and noticed a gun poking out of it, aimed squarely at Kate.

"Kate!" Eli used his shield to zip down the line Kate used earlier. He jumped into the alley, hitting the gunman with a dropkick that winded him before knocking him out with his shield. Kate couldn't hide her smirk as she watched him.

"I thought you were done."

Eli stood up. "You need to watch your back."

"I saw him earlier. I just wanted you to pick him off for me."

"What if I didn't come save you?"

"Well it's a good thing you did then, right?"

Eli dragged the fourth thief to Kate and she used the zip ties in her belt to tie up his hands along with his friends. She stood up and admiring their accomplishment. "I did the busy work. The least you could do is call it in."

Eli sighed and pulled his cell phone from his pocket.

…

The two sat on the top of Eli's apartment building once again, this time looking down at the police apprehending the car thieves they caught.

"Honestly wasn't expecting to work when I came here." Kate sighed. "Guess it's a good thing I brought my stuff."

"It's me."

"Huh?"

"I'm mad at myself."

Kate let out a small smile as she listened to Eli vent.

"All my life I wanted to be just like my Grandpa. Follow his example, try and get people to recognize the kind of hero he was. My hero. When Iron Lad let me be a Young Avenger I was finally given that opportunity. I would have done anything to keep it, even drugs. After the MGH thing I almost gave up, but you and the others believed in me. My family believed in me. Cap believed in me. So I got back up and tried my hardest to be worthy of that faith, but…when everything happened with Scarlet Witch. When Cassie and Jonas were…I just couldn't do it anymore. I couldn't take it. I failed everybody. I failed myself. I was the leader and I let two of my team, two of my friends die on my watch because I wasn't good enough. It was too much. So I moved away to try and get a fresh start, but I couldn't throw away the shield or my costume." He looked down at his shield, his face in the clear reflection. "I don't know why, it just felt wrong to do it. I could stop being a hero, but throwing the things I used away felt like I was turning my back on everything, ya know?"

"Isn't that essentially the same thing?"

Eli looked over to Kate.

"I mean having the ability to help others and not using it is basically the same thing as throwing it away, right? You were a great leader, Eli. I mean who knows where we'd all be if you weren't there. I know the others feel the same way. No one blames you for what happened to Cassie and Vision. I know for a fact Cassie doesn't, honestly she's upset that you quit."

Eli's eyes slowly widened as Kate continued.

"We all knew what we were getting into when we put on the costume. I mean yeah, sometimes it hurt like hell, and things didn't always go our way but that didn't stop us. We kept on and we kept moving forward, because that's what Avengers do. That's what heroes do."

Eli's gaze turned sullen again. "I'm not a hero anymore."

Kate turned to Eli and he turned to her, their eyes meeting for the third time that night. "Yes you are, and no matter what you say, nothing will ever change that. So you might as well deal with it. Besides I saw you out there, you still have some moves."

Eli smirked. "You really give one hell of a pep talk."

"Don't I? I keep telling Clint the same thing but he doesn't listen."

The two stared into one another's eyes. The moonlight illuminating their smiling faces. Slowly they leaned in, their lips parting before they engaged in a passionate kiss. It was warm, and slightly longing. Appropriate for the time they spent apart from one another. They never were completely honest with each other when it came to their feelings, it just wasn't in their personalities. Both fiercely independent and willing to prove themselves to anyone who would see. For this reason they always butted heads, whether it be for their unwillingness to commit to something more, or how different they saw situations. Under normal circumstances Kate and Eli would hate each other, but their situation was never what one categorized as "normal", especially when it came to moments like these. They meant everything to them. Even if they never said it, they knew what they meant to each other.

They begrudgingly let go to breathe, their foreheads now touching. Kate was the first to break the silence.

"You need to shave." She smirked as she rubbed her thumb over the stubble on Eli's jawline.

"Really? This girl in my history class likes it."

"She obviously has bad taste."

Another small silence set upon the two. This one was broken by Eli.

"Just give me time, alright? I just…need some time."

"Ok." Kate leaned her head on his shoulder as they looked back out at the night sky. "I'm here. Until you decide, I'm not going anywhere."

...

* * *

><p><strong>Just a little one-shot I thought of about one of my favorite comic book couples. (Where is Eli?) Kate and Eli always did have a soft spot in my heart, all that teenage angst and stumbling through love was always a good read and I enjoyed that about their characters. (Seriously where is Eli?!). I set this after AXIS (terrible event in my opinion) so I could have Eli reacting to Cassie being alive. Hopefully I got their characters right. As for the setting I just picked a random place, since it was said Eli moved to the Midwest and Chicago was the first place that popped into mind. Anyways, let me know what guys think. Thanks for reading :)<strong>


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